Ghana will soon receive its first AI powered agriculture hub worth $100 million. The project is recently announced by a Japanese company ‘Degas Limited’ and is anticipated to run for four continuous years.
Reportedly, the project is expansion of a model that has already invested over $86K for small-holder farmers across 122,000 acres nationwide.
Doga Makiura, the founder and CEO of Degas Limited met with John Dramani Mahama, the President of Ghana during the Ghana Presidential Investment Forum. During the meeting he stated that the African country has proven that small holder farmers can grow, if vision and technology comes together.
CEO Makiura said that Ghana has shown that when technology will meet a clear national vision then smallholder farmers can surely thrive.
Considering this, President Mahama has expressed that their commitment worth $100 million will scale AI driven satellite monitoring. Also, it will enhance precision agriculture techniques so that the small-holder farmers can boost yields and will have access to fairly priced finance with reduced risk.
Mahama stated during the meeting that they have already seen income getting double with 95% repayment rate from the farmers.
CEO Doga Makiura further highlighted that Degas Limited will provide a great platform for new technologies that will result in drawing strong interest from Japanese investors. He further mentioned that several Japanese partners now be considering this integrated approach of Ghana and will be asking for gold standard agricultural investment in the African region.
Makiura said that the Ghana President focuses mainly on value-chain integration that aligns closely with search for credibility in Japan, supporting scalable partnerships. Mahama stamped it as a vote of confidence in agricultural transformation agenda of Ghana.
President John Dramani Mahama declared that the investment reinforces the commitment to integrate the agricultural value chains which connect farmers to several sectors, such as:
- Markets
- Finance
- Storage
- and Processing
Furthermore, the investment of $100 million will leverage AI and precision technologies that will improve the major productivities by enhancing food security and creating dignified jobs for youth across the rural communities.
This new funding will support the expansion of the project by Degas Limited, that enables satellite crop monitoring and precision agronomy services. The investment will deepen partnerships across input supply, logistics and offtake to strengthen local value chains.